Incarnate
by animeman12
Summary: Abraham van Hellsing became one of the most powerful men in the world through one single event; Count Dracula, the No-Life King's, death at his hands. Years later, when another Hellsing holds the reigns of Vampire Slayer, another Vampire stands at the pinnacle of Vampirism because of Dracula's dying command. What King is without a Queen? Sort of role swap. AlucardxSeras! Massive AU
1. Chapter 1

Yeah... this was something that was bugging me when I thought of it, so I decided to type it... and then it turned into this! An interesting idea, in my opinion, if a little used... though this is my spin on it, and I hope I manage to overcome the dislike of the often used idea, but I wrote this for my enjoyment and I'm only posting it because I feel like it. I honestly don't care that much if those reading this dislike it, though liking it definitely helps my writing, though if you do I ask that you avoid flaming, because if you don't... Seras will kill you! All jokes aside though I will likely ignore any flames or confront the flamer using intelligence... or just thank them (Depends on my mood); if people hate something then you're obviously doing _something_ right, at least in my opinion. The beginning is kinda slow and choppy, not my best work I assure you, but in my opinion it picks up a little ways in. Also the pairing is_ mostly_ on the side... unless you guys want it to take the forefront more?

**Disclaimer: I _DO NOT _own Hellsing or Hellsing Ultimate as they are owned by Kota Hirano, and Studio Madhouse, and licensed by Geneon, Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, and Funimation.**

"At once my Mistress" Speech

_'Blood... blood... BLOOD!' _Thoughts

"**Restriction Seal released until enemies eliminated"** Demonic/Dramatic sounding Speech

"_Show them no mercy; they have sided with darkness and only those who walk the night can hope to vanquish them"_ Telepathy

_'It can't be... is he... _Flashback

Abraham van Hellsing became one of the most powerful men in the world through one single event; Count Dracula, the No-Life King's, death at his hands. Years later, when another Hellsing holds the reigns of Vampire Slayer, another Vampire stands at the pinnacle of Vampirism because of Dracula's dying command. What King is without a Queen? Sort of role swap. AlucardxSeras! Massive AU

A single change, now matter how small, can bend the future in many ways, some more than others; deciding which piece of fruit on your table to eat for breakfast wouldn't change the outcome of your day as much as choosing to drive to work or to carpool. This change, however, was caused by naught but a simple oversight, and it would change the future in ways that none alive or dead could possibly understand.

It was a small oversight, understandable in its entirety, and not something that could be held accountable for anyone, especially considering what it meant. The now legendary Vampire Slayer, Dr. Abraham Van Hellsing, a mere human, had done what none had even considered possible; he had defeated the No-Life King himself, the most powerful vampire ever to exist, Count Dracula. It was with this act that he placed himself upon the map as a Vampire Slayer, despite the death of the four men with which he had fought this monster. So there he stood, bleeding heavily from his side and unable to move his left arm, over the unmoving body to the monster that had killed his companions, feeling hatred well up at the thought. With his good arm he reached down and grabbed the beast by the collar of its clothes, or what was left of them as it didn't even have enough energy left to regenerate, and pulled its face toward his, sneering as he watched whatever force kept this beast alive flicker dimly within its eyes.

"You never thought this possible did you?" he demanded, breathing heavily as he glared at the vampire in front of him, both his anger and lack of energy causing his arm to shake slightly. "That a mere _human_ could defeat you? Could usurp your unholy kingdom, destroy your minions, end your reign of terror?! Let me tell you, beast! Monster! ABOMINATION!" He roared, his voice having steadily increased in volume, all thoughts of possibly taking the monster alive to use in the name of God's Holy Work lost as he saw it was barely clinging to life, his inability to prevent its death staring him in the face and laughing at his weakness, "You will die here, with the knowledge that you were killed by your prey, that the woman is saved, that my friend's and comrade's deaths were not in vain! What say you to that?! WHAT SAY YOU!?"

At the lack of a response he tossed the dying body to the ground as the moon continued to dip in the sky, the fact that they had defeated the No-Life King at night forever taunting the dying vampire. Abraham spared the monster one last look and said "May God's mercy cleanse your soul and allow you to redeem yourself in His name" He then turned to the bodies of his comrades and walked to them, closing their eyes and lifting them as best he could. "May God have mercy" he muttered as he walked away, the full moon setting in front of him.

Unknown to him the No-Life King wasn't as dead as he thought he was. Dracula knew this would be his last night upon this Earth, even if he consumed the blood of hundreds of virgins it wouldn't make a difference; he was to weak to even fix his clothes; the influx of blood would causing his stomach to expend too much energy to gain energy from the blood to be of any use. With the last few ounces of energy left, he called out telepathically to the one who had been with him since his ascension to the throne of the No-Life King.

This person arrived shortly in a cloud of bats, recreating their form and seamlessly stepping onto the hallowed ground where Dracula lay. Cringing slightly at this they made their way to where Dracula's form rested, being mindful not to touch the crosses on some of the graves. Once they reached the dying vampire they knelt, their currently sapphire blue eyes full of what appeared to be sadness, not that any human could, or would, believe that a being could even comprehend the emotion of sadness. It was only then that they spoke, taking a steadying breath before hand to prevent their voice from cracking due to emotion. "You've finally lost... surprising how years ago I would have rejoiced at this day, but now I only feel... empty" they said, speaking for the first time and revealing themselves to be female.

"I'm dying, 'tis true," Dracula stated, glancing up to the blond woman beside him, "But that does not mean I will disappear forever"

"Master?" she asked, brow creasing slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"There is only a single No-Life King and even if I die my legacy will return; my Incarnate, my _human_ Incarnate" he locked eyes with the Draculina, "You must be there for him, my No-Life Queen... Seras Victoria. And to do that you must go with the family of the man who defeated me; I feel our fates are intertwined" he responded cryptically, his statement causing Seras' eyes to widen in shock.

"Master... you want me to follow the man who killed you?" she asked, referring to her master as dead due to already having accepted the fact because he stated he would die. And if he was sure then there wasn't anything she had the power to do.

"I do not _want_ you to follow him, I am telling you to." The old vampire stated, his body shaking slightly as he strained to live for a few seconds longer. "These are my last orders, heed them well: Follow the man who slew me, and his family, until you find my legacy. Keep safe my coffin, he will need it as a source for power. And finally, my servant, the No-Life Queen Seras Victoria... drink my blood and walk the night as a free Vampire" he said, after several seconds of silence, his words shocking the Draculina before him as he raised his arm toward her face, his piercing red eyes boring into her own with their full strength despite his imminent demise.

"Master... if I do, you will assuredly die... and I will become your killer, not the human" she responded, her servant-master bond with her vampiric progenitor attempting to prevent her from drinking his blood and becoming a free vampire. This, combined with her honest want to have the dying King live, prevented her from doing anything other than watch him in his last moments, and question his final orders. _'The last'_ she realized, with increasing sorrow, _'I'll ever receive' _the thought almost brought tears to her eyes, though she refused to show it.

"I will die regardless, but it would be a smear on my name to die to a human!" Dracula responded, immediately afterward coughing up a glob of blood and saliva and taking several shallow breaths into his now bloodstained glove. "I am the No-Life King, strongest Vampire to ever live. The humans will believe they killed me, but I wish the Vampires to know the truth; that a human _cannot_ kill me! That said, I will repeat: Seras Victoria, as you master and King I _ORDER_ you to drink my blood and reach your full power as a Vampire!" this he roared, the force of his voice rupturing multiple blood vessels in his lungs.

Seras only looked onto his dying body sadly, uttering a quite "Yes master" of relenting, before opening her mouth, the sight and smell of her master's power filled blood sending the part of her mind that truly didn't want to do this to the darkest corner of her existence and, in a single motion, leaned down and sank her teeth into Count Dracula's jugular draining the powerful vampire of his blood. And as the sun rose in the background a single sentence, spoken in her now deceased Master's voice, sounded in her mind. _"Now that you have tasted my blood, you shall know that of my legacy's"_

_England, 1995;_

It was a crisp night, not unusual for England, and the moon was full in the cloudless sky. For many this would be a pleasant night, a night for watching the stars with family and friends, maybe a picnic with a lover, for one Joshua Morris it was anything but. He was an Inspector for the Metropolitan Police, specifically a firearms specialist, however that was beside the point. He had been sent to investigate a number of homicides in the small town of Cheddar, along with several squads of police. They'd found the culprit alright, just before they'd found the rest of the town. Seriously it was like it was out of some bad movie; The monster sitting, in a _church_ of all places!, killing the last of the victims just as the police arrive. Expect instead of the police killing the beast and ending its rampage after it summoned its minions of the dead, they were slaughtered down to the last man, and that man was running for his life's worth.

Maybe it was the fear that allowed him to evade this inhumanly fast _beast_, maybe the feeling of adrenaline and the well concealed joy at blood being spilt, something that he'd been sent to a therapist for a long time to carefully hide from the public view, or perhaps it was fate's way of saying 'you will not die today'. Either way Joshua tore through the forest, his gun with only a few scant bullets left held in his ever tightening grip as he leapt over a downed tree and broke into what appeared to be a moonlit clearing at first glance. _'So much for living past the day'_ he scoffed, completely aware that he wouldn't be able to outrun the beast chasing him in the open. He called it a beast, though his logical mind told him it was a vampire, something he couldn't accept the existence of; if he did then he would be forced to accept the existence of everything that went bump in the night, something that he refused with every fiber of his being, for reasons even he didn't realize. To admit that there were things out there, that traveled in secret and away from humanity, would be to admit that he had no knowledge of them which, in turn, would mean that he was weaker, knowledge is a part of power, after all, and for some reason he couldn't admit that he wasn't more powerful than the things chasing him. Joshua slowed to a stop near the middle of the clearing, now visibly a break in the forest, and turned in the direction of the killer of the rest of his team, people he'd been working with for a good while now. He wouldn't say he liked all of them, but they had been good people who shouldn't have had to die while someone like him, who reveled in bloodshed and death, lived. His gun raised with practiced ease, just as a blur shot out of the treeline.

As soon as he saw that he fired where he assumed it would go. One shot, miss, readjust aim. Second shot, closer, but still a miss, readjust. Third shot, it hit something, the blur slowed slightly, almost as if it was correcting its course. After that something... clicked in his head. Two more shots, one to the shoulder the other to the stomach, the first missing but the second hitting its target. Head, miss, shoulder, miss, left leg, hit. Then something clicked, but it wasn't mental. The next shot would have been right between the eyes, and Joshua was confident that he would have hit the thing, and he would have had the gun not chosen that moment to run out of ammo. It took him only a moment to remember the first several shots at the things the beast set on him, reducing the amount of ammo in his clip to eight instead of its usual twelve. This realized his eyes widened and he dove to the side, ejecting the magazine as he did and patting himself down in search of another one. Not a moment after he dove the beast appeared where he had been standing, a sadistic grin on its face and murder in its eyes.

"You've given me quite the chase _Inspector_" it said with the voice of the man it used to be, "I truly didn't expect you to survive this long. Its a shame you will soon die, if you were a girl I might have made you my slave" Joshua didn't deign to respond, though the last bit did peak his interest slightly. He simply loaded a new magazine into his P226 and aimed it at the former holy man. "You think that will harm me? I will admit it surprised me that you were capable of hitting me with that, but you cannot honestly e-" it was cut off by a bullet going straight through its eye and coming out the back of its head, its arrogant smirk never leaving its face as it slumped over.

"You talk to much, and I find your voice highly annoying" Joshua stated with cold indifference, his handgun still pointed at the beast. His refusal to believe that it would die so easily was rewarded with it beginning to shake, looking much like it was laughing. Its refusal to die was rewarded with a bullet in the back of its head. He would have fired another, but the beast disappeared, reappearing seconds later just behind him with its arm around his neck. "Let go you damned monster!" Joshua roared bringing his gun to bear, pointed next to his ear at the things face. _'This is gonna hurt'_ he thought, just before he pulled the trigger, sure the sound would causing his mostly unprotected eardrum, he did have special earplugs in after all, to burst. It did hurt, but not in the way he expected.

His arm exploded in pain, shattered by the beast's lightning fast strikes in several places, causing him to drop the gun and bellow in agony, the sound carrying for almost a kilometer in the empty and nigh soundless night. The beast laughed, an annoying, teeth grinding sound that was barely heard by Joshua as his pain, only increased by the fact that the beast dropped him, which knocked out his earplugs, threatened to render him unconscious. Only his willpower kept him from falling into a blissful sleep, from which he was positive he would never return, and his burning desire to live and kill this pathetic excuse for a former human. Luckily for him, his cry of pain attracted the attention of a certain being, who strolled through the woods on this night, concerned only with how beautiful the moon looked alone in the starless sky. At least until he heard the cry. Hearing it brought forth memories from a time long past and it was in that moment that the being shot forward, the only thing on its mind the memories, and what the future might hold if its feeling was correct. At that thought it grinned, its sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight as it speed through the forest.

Joshua lay on the ground, his gun forgotten at his side as he cradled his arm close to his body, glaring at the beast as it laughed. He swore under his breath when he saw that the monsters it had summoned were now making their way out of the forest, all clutching some kind of gun or weapon. _'Wonder how many I'll be able to take out...'_ he thought to himself, bringing himself up to a sitting position, idly wishing his back where to a tree so he didn't have to expend any energy in just staying upright. _'Plus it would look better'_ he snorted, reaching for his gun and picking it up with his non-dominant hand.

"And what do you think you'll be able to do with that? Kill me?!" the beast joked, eyeing the two bullet casings that held the bullets that entered his head mere moments before.

"No, you've proven to hard for myself to kill," Joshua admitted, the mere words leaving a sour taste in his mouth, "I intend to put some things out of their misery" with that he opened fire, bullet after bullet running into the brains of the monsters, causing them to shudder, but still continue moving. "Well damn..." he muttered as he watched them keep moving, still idly pulling the trigger of his P226 despite the lack of ammunition in the magazine, barely having the energy to sit up straight let alone be surprised that the monsters kept moving. This only caused the beast to laugh harder, actually _clutching its sides_ and bending as it did so.

This was the scene the being arrived to, after slowing to a stop: a human, whose current position prevented them from seeing their face, with an obviously broken arm, surrounded by their prey and its slaves, pointlessly pulling the trigger to the firearm in his hand. It sighed, almost feeling sorry for the black haired human, before casually walking toward the human with such unnatural and inhuman grace that they seemed to be gliding.

The former priest, having finally suppressed his laughter, straightened up and yelled "Dinner time!" and just before he pounced, he was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Not because something was clogging it, but because they were demanding one's attention. This fact, coupled with the sight of just _who_ cleared their throat once the former priest turned to face them, caused Joshua to drop his gun in shock.

Being that he was sitting up on the ground, and male, the first thing he noticed was their breasts, which are large, easily large Ds. The second was her nigh golden blonde hair long enough to cover one of her eyes, splayed behind her head by some sort of elastic device, only she really knew how it was held there as her hair obscured the view and no one, living or undead, had ever been that close to her. She stood at what looked to be his height, clad in a red dress that covered her from the base of her neck to around the middle of her thighs. It had almost no sleeves, leaving most of her arms exposed to the air. Said arms ended in hands clad in white gloves, on the back of which was unreadable symbols and lines. On her legs were dark stockings that covered up to her knees, and a pair of comfortable looking shoes (basically the ones she wears in canon). Her skin was pale, almost unnaturally so, but not quite, and flawless. For some reason Joshua could not fathom it seemed to glow in the moonlight. What truly enraptured his attention were her eyes; They, like the beast's, were red, something that caused him to become wary of her, but unlike the aforementioned monster, whose eyes were a pale malicious red, her's were a bright and alluring crimson, and something about them simply drew in your attention and made you want to stare into them for eternity. All in all she was inhumanly beautiful, something that Joshua wasn't complaining about in the slightest.

When she spoke, Joshua realized there was something even more alluring about her than her eyes, or her figure, "I assume you to be responsible for these deaths, and these Ghouls?" she asked, eyes hard and glaring holes into the beast's forehead.

As arrogant as he was, the former priest could tell this woman was more powerful than she let on, and her eyes told him she was no human. That being said, he kept up his arrogant display, silently telling his Ghouls to face the newcomer. "And who would you be?" he demanded condescendingly, unable to prevent himself from taking in her body with a hungry eye. Something that didn't go unnoticed by the very person he was eyeing.

"A hunter," She replied splaying her gloved hand, as the area around it began to darken, "And by order of my master you shall die for nearly exposing our kind, and praying upon humans. Honestly its as if you _didn't_ think your feeding would go unnoticed, or perhaps you were so high on power that you assumed yourself untouchable?" despite himself he flinched, revealing she'd hit the nail on the head.

"Well then _Hunter_," the former priest growled, attempting to mask his flinch with anger, as he raised his hand, "Let's see how well you can kill me without a head?!" With that he snapped his fingers, and the Ghouls raised their weapons. As an afterthought, now confident in the death of his opponent, he calmly told the Ghouls, just loud enough to be heard by Joshua and the hunter, "Do try to aim for her head; it would be a shame if her body were soiled by bullets" with that the mass of undead opened fire in a flash of light that lit up the area and wave of sound that nearly deafened Joshua. What happened next would change the world as he truly knew it, more so that being chased by the beast ever had or could.

Impossible as it seemed, Joshua could clearly see through the hail of bullets and flashes caused by said bullets leaving the barrel of their gun, and hear perfectly over the roar of the guns. What he saw was the woman grin just slightly, the kind of grin that one wears when they know something no one else does and they enjoy every minute of it, and, just as the first of the bullets was about to scatter her brains onto the grass behind her, she _moved_. Faster than anything he had ever seen, or could ever see, she moved around the bullets, so smoothly and with such laziness that it was as if she were dodging poorly thrown stones. It was with morbid fascination that he watched her gracefully dodge _every single bullet_ that had been shot at her, and for some reason it looked as if the bullets slowed just by watching her. What he heard above all the gunfire was her laugh, something that was likely the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Throughout all this she seemed amused by their attempt to kill her.

Ghouls naturally lacked the brain power they had as humans, relying mostly on their vampiric masters to direct them. That being said they couldn't really tell if they had any ammo or not, so when they finally ran out they just kept depressing the trigger. It was the final bullet fired by the Ghouls that actually touched the woman, but not because she wasn't paying attention or because she was being arrogant. No it was because of the simple fact that she snatched it out of the air and, after looking it over for a few seconds, flicked it into the head of one of the Ghouls. Said Ghoul fell to the ground seconds later, its master's control over it destroyed and its body allowed to slump to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

It was at that moment that the former priest realized just how royally screwed he was and was contemplating how to escape even as a gun was being formed from the shadows around the hunter's hand. It took a few scant seconds for it to be created and, as a weapons specialist, Joshua found he couldn't tear his gaze away from a gun the likes of which he had never seen.

First off it was impossibly long, from a glance it looked like its barrel at least 8 to 9 inches long, something he'd never heard of for a pistol. The only reason he could imagine for a barrel that long would be to increase the accuracy, or to decrease the noise of the gas escaping the barrel (please note I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about), but without inspecting it at a close distance he couldn't be sure. Secondly it was a silver coloring that glinted menacingly in the moonlight, looking as if it anticipated the deaths it would soon wrought.

It had writing going down the slide and, though he knew he would be unable to read it, Joshua attempted to read the words, though his attempt was cut off by a sudden blaze of gunfire. To his astonishment every shot that was fired hit the same spot on each Ghoul; the left eye. And immediately afterward their heads exploded. _'FMJ rounds!'_ Joshua realized suddenly, eyes widening as he attempted to move a little farther away from the one sided gunfight, an act that did not go unnoticed by the former priest.

It took several seconds of nonstop gunfire, a curious fact given that there was no possible way the pistol could hold that much ammunition, but when she stopped shooting ever Ghoul was dead. She then turned her gun on the former priest who, once he saw this, blurred out of sight to the normal eye. The woman had no normal eyes, and easily, and lazily, followed her prey with the gun, only to stop short once she realized it was going for the human. Her arm blurred to bring the gun to bear, but was just slow enough that it managed to grab the human and was using him as a shield.

"I know what you are, only an idiot would be able to tell that by now," the former priest began, gripping Joshua tightly, uncaring of the man's shattered arm, "But I'm sure whoever sent you, if they cared enough to send _you_ to kill me and save the town I have been feeding from, wouldn't want the death of the final survivor," it then sneered, believing to have seen a flicker of realization on the woman's face, "That being said, I won't kill this man, provided that you let me go" Joshua's eyes widened as he truly realized just what kind of situation he was currently in. "I'm not asking much, you don't even have to help me escape from the authorities; All I ask is that you turn a blind eye. Do this and he's all yours"

The woman, having been silent throughout the former priest's proposal, spoke up for the first time since she arrived. "Are you a virgin?" she asked, looking pointedly at Joshua, who merely blinked in confusion at the question, before the words really registered in his mind. When they did his eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly, just enough fr his mouth to be open a slight amount.

The former priest however understood what she was asking immediately, and growled angrily. "You honestly think I'd let you get away with that?" he demanded, adjusting his grip so that one of his hands was on Joshua's chin, the other on the top of his head. "The moment you fire a shot I'll snap his neck! Don't assume I move slower than bullets, girl!"

The woman didn't dignify him with a response, she merely looked Joshua in the eyes and repeated her question. "Inspector, are you a virgin?" something about her voice was different somehow. Joshua didn't know how, why, or what but something was different, and it was that difference that forced him to answer.

"Yes!" he yelled, despite the former priest's efforts to close his mouth. For the briefest second he felt his captor's hands move to break his neck, immediately after that he felt nothing but blinding pain and the former priest's hands loosen in their grip. The next thing he knew, there was something wet on the back of his head and shoulder and he was falling numbly, barely able to feel the searing pain in his chest. He somehow managed to land on his knees, vaguely aware of the fact that his captor was dying a horrible and painful death, if his screams of pain were anything to go off of. As he knelt, the very last of his strength being used to keep him upright, he slowly began to feel... cold. It started in his toes and fingers, and slowly began to spread toward his head. When it reached his waist he was hit with vertigo, and found himself on his back, only really aware of the encroaching cold and the fact that the woman was standing above him.

"Your lung has been pierced. If the blood loss does not kill you, then a lung full of blood will. So I ask; do you wish to live?" he heard her ask, sounding as if they were separated by continents, "To continue existing and walk the night?" she suddenly became very far away, and he found himself reaching for her, the last thing to currently tied him to life. Had he not lost feeling in his hand already he likely would have felt his hand be caught by something, but as it stood he could only really feel his face. "I ask you what I was asked, many years ago, and give you the same option: Live. Or die. Yes... or no?" despite his lack of energy his mouth moved, but no sound came out. He could see her face growing closer, despite the distance she seemed to be at, and, for the briefest moment, as the cold reached his eyes and a feeling of fire erupted in his neck, he felt the strangest sense of dèjá vu. And the he saw nothing but black, and felt nothing but his blood being set ablaze.

And heard nothing but callous, arrogant, triumphant laughter. And he realized... _he was laughing_.

Post AN: This has been bugging me since I picked Hellsing Ultimate back up about... a couple months ago at least. As stated above I honestly don't care if you like it, since this'll only be worked on when I'm stuck with Nothing is set in stone, so if you want to be a troll and flame me for taking the time write this out and post it, as opposed to just writing it for my own amusement, I say go for it; all you'll be doing it showing me that there are people who are taking the time to give me feedback, despite their apparent malicious intents. That being said I'm posting this for several reasons, here are two of them:

1. I feel like it, and actually appreciate it when people critique my writing since that only makes me better. For an example... my first story was so absolutely _abysmal_ that I'm telling you right now _DO NOT READ IT!_ Its only still up because I'm sentimental about my roots as a writer and occasionally compare it to how I write now. Needless to say I've made a good bit of progress, in my opinion at least.

2. Because I _F**KING CAN! _(I apologize if my phrasing offended you, but I have no other way to put that and keep the same emphasis and intent to that degree)

I'd say that's about all I've got to say here. If you have any questions either PM me, leave a review (I make a point to respond to all reviews in any way possible). Have a good day and get a life, because sitting in front of a computer reading Fanfiction isn't a very good one! Doing it on a phone is even worse! And I'm pathetic because I do both almost religiously!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello once again readers!... however few of you there actually are, and to the even fewer amount that read these little notes! As stated in the last chapter, and first, of this fic I'll only really be working on this while I have time, or when I've reached a pause while writing Nothing is set in stone... that being said I've, more or less, written myself into a corner, of sorts, in said fic so here I am writing this once more! To be perfectly honest, something I take pride in being the majority of the time, I actually started this chapter no more than a day after completing the first chapter, which has done surprisingly well for only being up for a short time, given how small the Hellsing fandom is on this site, when compared, for example, to the fandoms of the Big Three (Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece for those who didn't know) under the anime/manga category. That said, however, I think that Hellsing's fandom has a greater like of Hellsing than any of the Big Three fandoms have for them; Hellsing is, admittedly, quite short: The anime only having 13 episodes, and not being all that good to be perfectly honest, the OVA having only 10 episodes, though they are an hour long, and the manga only having 10 volumes. But its short length, in my opinion, is what allows for people to like it more, sort of like the Souls series; you either hate it with a burning passion, have no idea what it is (or never played), or can't understand why anyone _doesn't_ like it. Does that make sense? Well whatever, this is starting to look a little top heavy... so I'm gonna get into the story now... but first guest review response!

MindIIBody: Glad you're enjoying it! My hope is to churn out a chapter every two months or so, though the I intended to get one out for Halloween, and succeeded by the way... and I'm pretty sure everyone knows why.

**Disclaimer: I **_****__DO NOT _**own Hellsing or Hellsing Ultimate as they are owned by Kota Hirano, and Studio Madhouse, and licensed by Geneon, Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, and Funimation.**

"At once my Mistress" Speech

_'Blood... blood... BLOOD!' _Thoughts

"**Restriction Seal released until enemies eliminated"** Demonic/Dramatic sounding Speech

"_Show them no mercy; they have sided with darkness and only those who walk the night can hope to vanquish them"_ Telepathy

_'It can't be... is he... _Flashback

Abraham van Hellsing became one of the most powerful men in the world through one single event; Count Dracula, the No-Life King's, death at his hands. Years later, when another Hellsing holds the reigns of Vampire Slayer, another Vampire stands at the pinnacle of Vampirism because of Dracula's dying command. What King is without a Queen? Sort of role swap. AlucardxSeras! Massive AU

Darkness. That's all he could make out at the moment; all he could see, feel, hear, taste, and smell. Nothing but darkness. The last thing he remembered was the sound of his own, maniacal laughter, funny how being on the verge of death caused him to laugh like that. With that single thought the full weight of what happened when he was last conscious came roaring back to him. Every detail, no matter how minute, ran through his mind in crisp clarity, from the moment the rest of the police fell to the beast, to his death. Not a single moment was left untouched and at the end of it all, he felt numb. _'So this is death?'_ he wondered, looking around, the only reason he knew he was moving being that he could still feel his body move. _'This can't be Heaven...'_ he thought, before snorting, sure that someone like him, who secretly reveled in blood and death, would never see Heaven's Pearly Gates opened by Saint Peter's keys. _'Guess that means this is Hell... not as painful as I expected. Though I'll probably go mad within the year. Damn, and here I'd hoped to get laid before I died'_ at that he snorted, before resigning himself to his fate and turning over, at least as close to that as he could without any sense of where he was.

"Didn't you want to live?" a voice asked after what seemed like millennia, piercing the darkness and waking Joshua from his 'slumber'. "What happened to the man who wished to live above all else? Who told me as much with his dying breaths?" it took Joshua several moments to place the voice, but when he did his eyes widened and he shot up into the equivalent of a sitting position. _'The hunter!'_ he realized with sudden clarity, and he opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off when the voice spoke once more. "I suppose I cannot blame you for not referring to me by my name, since I did not give you it. I am Seras Victoria," and with that, as if a switch were suddenly thrown on, the same woman who killed the former priest and his Ghouls appeared, looking exactly the same, with the exception that there was a slight smile on her face, nigh unnoticeable to any who were not looking. As if her mere presence righted the wrong in the world, Joshua's sense returned, and he found he was floating in a pinkish white void. _'And God said let there be light'_ he thought jokingly, flashing a grin at his own joke as he look around. He still appeared to be dressed in his uniform, and it still apparently had the hole in it from when he died.

"An apt way of putting it, given the circumstance" Seras said, drawing Joshua from his observations. _'Did she just...'_ he began in his mind, only for Seras to cut off his thought, "Read your mind? Yes I did; it comes with the job of being your vampiric progenitor"

"My what?" was Joshua's intelligent response, eyebrow raised and confusion clear on his face. What an afterlife this was turning out to be.

"All will be explain in due time, I assure you." Seras replied cryptically, her eyes glowing knowingly, "However you must first awaken... though I do have one question" Joshua merely raised his eyebrow further, "What does death feel like?" with that Joshua's vision receded, and he felt himself fall back into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw was the glint of her grin, and the glow of her eyes.

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Joshua once more found himself in darkness, but it wasn't the all consuming darkness he had been in previously, it was merely the darkness of the back of his eye lids, though now that he was paying attention he could see small red spots signifying a sufficient amount of light to see. He lay still for several moments, trying to figure out if what just happened, as well as the night before, truly happened. Deciding it would be more trouble to just lay here, that and there was no point in sleeping when he felt more energy than he'd ever felt since joining the Metropolitan Police, he sat up and opened his eyes.

The room he was in had no windows, looking to be made completely of cold hard stone. Other than that it had the furnishings of comfortable room. After his surroundings were thoroughly taken in, though just how he ended up here would have to wait until someone came in or he left and demanded answers, he was left with a singular option for determining if what he thought happened actually occurred or if it was the product of some drunken stupor induced dream: He lifted his shirt to inspect his chest.

He didn't quite know what he was expecting, a bullet hole, bandages, maybe a scar?, but what he found honestly disappointed him; completely smooth, unmarred flesh, same as it was the day before. At this he sighed, wondering just whose home he was in since he didn't recognize the pajamas he was wearing, and actually found himself wishing it had actually occurred. "Guess it was just a dream, huh?" he asked himself, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly with his right hand, "It would've been interesting at le-" he stopped, freezing completely, eyes wide. It took several long, agonizing seconds before he started moving once more, and even then it was only his fingers shakily running over the round what felt like scar tissue covered skin, right where his left shoulder met his neck. His eyes widened ever more when his fingers found empty space at the center of the scar tissue, and several more seconds of searching found him another similar hole, just beneath the first.

"You've finally awoken, good" despite his shock at the _holes in his neck_ Joshua couldn't help but jump slightly at the voice that appeared next to him. It only took a few seconds to recognize who was speaking, and when he did he turned as fast as possible to face her. Once he laid eyes on her something from his dream sounded in his head, 'What does death feel like?'. "It was beginning to look as if you would never awaken," She said as he took her in once more. _'She seems... different. Almost... less attractive?'_ He wondered eyebrow raising slightly as he tried to figure out what was different about the woman standing before him; she wore the same outfit, her voice was the same melody it was to begin with, if slightly less intense, as if it were being heard at a slight distance instead of up close. Her hair changed as much as her outfit had, and her eyes were the same crimson they had been the night before. "I trust you know who I am?" she asked, smirking lightly at his surface thoughts; she had no reason to read deeper into his mind than what he was currently thinking of.

As if compelled by an unknown source Joshua answered, immediately and clearly. "Seras Victoria" It wasn't until the words left his mouth and the woman's smirk grew wider that he realized that he had no choice but to answer, no matter what he'd done he still would have answered, and the very _thought_ of that set his blood boiling and his more... primal side rearing its head. The only difference this time was that he seemed to have lost all desire to keep it hidden; he no longer cared whether the other officers feared and hated him, or the police chief's threat to keep himself under control or be stripped of his rank and likely arrested. In fact he now reveled in it, for the first time since it had found its way into his personality as a child he welcomed it with open arms, though his rational side remained and dictated most of his actions.

"I'm sure you're wondering what happ-" She began, only for her eyes to widen when the boy, for that is exactly what the person before her was when compared to herself, in front of her cut her off with a single word.

"No." He stated, his blood red eyes meeting her crimson. "I _don't_ care what happened"

"Oh?" Seras questioned, schooling her expression to hide her irritation and raising an eyebrow, smirk firmly back in place. "You care not for the reasons for the situation you find yourself in? Or what you've become?" at his eyes narrowing and scowl her smirk grew ever so slightly. She'd regained control of the situation.

"And just _what_ do you mean by that?" He demanded harshly, standing from the bed and meeting Seras's eyes at more or less the same level, he was her size after all. Seras would have answered, had the sound of footsteps not reached her ears and her smirk grew even further still. "Answer me dammit!" Joshua demanded, snarling as he grabbed her dress at the sleeve, pulling her closer to him as he glared. Something about her smirk angered him, as if she knew something he didn't and that should _never_ happen. He didn't really have a reason behind this feeling of rage, and quite honestly he didn't really care, though something told him doing any more than what he was currently would be a bad idea. So great was his rage, that he didn't notice the fact that two more people entered the room until one of them spoke.

"You, young man, are a vampire, that would be what she meant. Now I believe you are indeed English, so I suggest acting like a proper Englishman and letting her go before she does something... _unappreciated_" At the new voice Joshua's glare flicked from Seras, to the person who just spoke, another blonde woman, _'Why do I get the feeling blonde__s__ will be the death of me...' _he idly wondered, who was significantly less... physically appealing than the one in front of him.

"Would you care to repeat that?" He asked carefully, not liking the look of the old man behind her, he had an aura of danger leaking from his every pore at the moment, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that danger.

"You are a vampire," she stated matter-of-factly, bringing a cigar to her mouth, a scant second later the man behind her pulled a lighter from somewhere and lit it before returning to his original position as if nothing happened. "A blood-sucker, Nosferatu, Midian, Vrykolakas, Strigoi, Nightwalker, pale bastard that turns to dust in sunlight, with a stake through his heart, and head on a pike, as my late father used to call them in his youth" She took a long breath of the cigar and calmly blew out the smoke, succeeding in angering Joshua more. "I will repeat myself, in case my previous statement wasn't comprehended completely in you state of... unawareness: I suggest you unhand my servant, before she decides you need disciplining" She took another drag from her cigar, looking to Seras with an expectant eye.

Joshua merely released Seras's dress and turned to the new arrivals fully. "And you are who, exactly?"

The woman smirked through her cigar, a glint of amusement shining in her eyes. "I am the leader of the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, or Hellsing as we're more commonly known," the word Hellsing sounded familiar to Joshua, though from where he couldn't remember, "Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. I would say 'at your service' but that would require our situations to be reversed"

"I assume you're human then, Miss Hellsing" He asked as the more rational part of his mind became louder, figuring it would be prudent to be polite; especially with the woma- Seras, he quickly reminded himself, well within arms reach and considering what he watched her do, with great ease, the night before... it would be a bad idea to anger this Hellsing woman, even more so if she referred to Seras as her servant.

"Of course; the Queen would never allow a vampire into a position of power, had she any intelligence. And I assure you, my family has been continually reminding her of the dangers of the beasts that prowl the night since she ascended the throne all those years ago" Integra replied flippantly, "And I refuse to believe she is without intelligence"

Joshua nodded, figuring if Seras was a good example of the power of a vampire then giving them power would be a very bad idea. "I would not consider myself to be an accurate representation of the average vampire, if I were you Joshua" Seras said, causing the fledgling to turn to her. "Did you just-" "Read your mind?" She asked, smirking as Joshua felt a vague sense of dé·jà vu. "Yes I did. You are quite the open book, letting your emotions run wild like they were. I hope you can keep them in check while on the job"

"What 'job'?" Joshua asked, eyebrow raised and forehead crinkled in thought. He turned toward Integra, feeling that Seras would either ignore him or respond with that all knowing smirk.

"You didn't inform him Seras?" The Head of the Hellsing family asked, turning to her servant. "I'm surprised, usually you get straight to the point, its not like you to procrastinate like this"

"I apologize, however my own Master did the same to me when I first turned, so I wished to see how it felt" She replied, before clearing her throat. "I am, as you know, Seras Victoria. As the vampire that turned you, I am your Master, though Mistress is the proper term. I serve the Hellsing family, and the Royal Order of Protestant Knights they are charged with, an organization dedicated to keeping England safe by killing or driving off the monsters and beasts that... go bump in the night. Recently it has mostly been vampires that we have been dealing with, and thus I have been the one to deal with them. As a vampire we would normally kill you outright, and ask questions later," Joshua's eyes narrowed and an animalistic growl came from his throat unbidden. "_However_," Seras stressed, glaring the fledgling into submission, "As I have been the one to turn you, you have two options: The aforementioned trip to Hell, as I can't foresee anyone who would willingly choose The Night not going there, _or_ you may live and join me as we remove our idiotic brethren from this country"

"Last night you asked me whether I wished to die... why would my answer change?" Joshua demanded, a sort of angry insanity leaking into his voice.

"Last night? You've been unconscious for three days. Frankly I'm surprised you're alive, let alone awake" Integra commented, causing Joshua's blood to run cold, odd seeing as his heart was silent in his chest.

"Excuse me, but I don't think I quite heard you right." he said, turning to Integra. Seras and the butler, who'd yet to speak up throughout all of this, only having moved to light Integra's cigar, moved in front of said woman, both moving faster than the human eye could see. Joshua would have found a person, obviously human and even more obviously old, keeping pace with a vampire surprising had he been in a proper state of mind.

When dealing with a newly created vampire, especially when they've just woken from their change induced sleep, commonly called 'The Sleep' by most vampires due to them not feeling the need to come up with a more original name, one must always proceed with caution, even when in the presence of said vampire's creator. The sudden change from a human mind and body to that of a vampire's is... disconcerting to most, and unless one knew the vampire before they became one then you must always be ready to defend yourself as Fledglings have a tendency to be unstable after being turned. This wears off relatively quickly, usually lasting only about an hour for most vampires. Of course this is taking into account that most vampires are only in The Sleep for approximately half an hour, and the time they spend Sleeping is directly proportionate to their initial power as a Fledgling. For example the fabled Count Dracula, former No-Life King, spent a day and a half in The Sleep and he is widely renowned as the most powerful vampire to ever exist. The only person he turned with the intent to actually be with for more than a few months before killing, Seras Victoria, spent about a day Sleeping off her change. To have a vampire Sleep for _two days_ is unheard of, and it is impossible for them not to be a vampire of exceptional power. Of course a vampire's initial power also determines how unstable they are until they grow accustomed to their new body and mindset.

It was estimated that Count Dracula was unstable for 16 hours following his change, and that he spent that time massacring anyone and everyone around him. Seras Victoria was unstable for about 14 hours, though most of that time was spent attempting to remove the good Count from existence for changing her against her will. By the guess of the only being to have this knowledge, the aforementioned vampiress herself, Joshua would be unstable for approximately a day, if Dracula's vampiric bloodline's example was to be believed. That being said she would normally let this run its course and get it out of his system, but seeing as Integra and Walter were in the room, neither of which she wished dead for several reasons, she did something that hadn't been tried before, or if it had no party had survived to tell of it. She ordered him to calm down.

"Joshua, you aren't in your right mind at the moment. I need you to calm down" She began, hoping that the her voice would be enough to calm him down. Seeing as the only response she received was an animalistic growl she mentally sighed in annoyance before glaring. "Joshua I _Order_ you to calm down now!" she ground out, intentionally using her power over her fledgling for the first, and hopefully last, time.

The effect was instantaneous; Joshua froze, his entire body going stiff as the words and power behind them registered in his brain. The red immediately receded from his eyes, and he blinked several times in confusion. He lost his aggressive stance and looked in confusion at his Mistress.

"What just happened?" he asked, all traces of anger receding from his voice, posture, and features before being quickly replaced with confusion as soon as the previous emotion was gone.

"You lost control," was the response he got, quick, clean, and to the point. Though before he could ask anything more it was compounded upon. "Its not rare for a fledgling to lose control over themselves after first waking up from The Sleep, that's what the coma you are in when you change is called," She added when he looked to have become more confused, "Hopefully my Order will prevent this from happening again, however until we determine this you aren't leaving my sight" She finished, speaking with a tone that brokered no arguments. Joshua merely nodded numbly as Integra loudly exhaled smoke to gain the attention of the two vampires under her command, her _pets_ as many vampires and a certain Church organization referred to them as. When no one said anything, and Seras turned to her, she spoke.

"Unfortunately I didn't come down here to simply say hello to our new... friend. We have a job for you, two," she added after a moment, glancing at Joshua meaningfully, "Another obvious one; a vampire has taken over a hospital in northern Ireland. Exterminate the Master and the Ghouls will die" the Hellsing family Head said, purely for Joshua's sake. Walter then moved, almost gliding with a grace that had likely been obtained through long, hard work, presenting a neatly folded blue uniform, not unlike the standard police uniform that was currently in use, with the Hellsing Organization's crest easily seen on the left arm, just below the shoulder. "The town is predominantly Protestant, as are the areas around it, however expect to meet some... resistance. Seras will explain on the trip" She said, cutting off any questions that Joshua could ask, making the man grumble to himself. "Now get changed, Mr. Morris, and we'll arm you before you leave. Now please hurry, we haven't all day" with that the blonde walked out of the room, the butler only taking enough time to calmly place the uniform on the bed before following his employer out of the room, Seras making a simple 'hurry' gesture by moving her fingers in a circle before exiting the room herself.

"What've you gotten yourself into this time?" the fledgling muttered, before shaking his head and quickly dressing. When he was finished he glanced in the only mirror in the room, one that strangely appeared to have a frame made of bronze, out of habit. "Looks a little like my usual uniform" (1) He muttered to himself again, before leaving the room to see his Mistress waiting outside the door. _'That's going to be hard to get used to'_ he thought before raising an eyebrow at her.

"With the amount of talking to yourself you partake in, one would assume you were suffering from insanity" was the only response to his questioning gaze he obtained before the vampiress turned and walked away, motioning him to follow with her hand. He did so with a sigh, falling into step behind her and to the right as if he'd done so his entire life, despite a small voice in his head demanding that _she_ fall in step behind _him_. He casually told that part of his mind to shut up,

Not five minutes of walking later Joshua found himself in front of a large wooden door. "Don't we need to leave? The woman from earlier made it sound rather... urgent" He commented, confusion in his voice and on his face as he stared at the door, the top being a good four feet taller than he was.

"She did, and you should refer to her as milady, or Miss Hellsing not 'the woman from earlier'; she deserves your respect as much as she deserves mine," Seras replied, lightly chastising her fledgling, "And we are leaving, but not before you have a weapon; I haven't the time to teach you to fight like a vampire just yet" with that she opened the door, an astounding feat given that it look to weigh about forty-five or so kilos, and walked inside. What the room contained literally _astounded_ Joshua.

The room was a good twenty five square meters and 5 meters high, and it was amply light for a room its size. However it was covered on all walls, save the one with the door, with guns. Racks and racks of guns lined neatly and organized by classification; Rifles, Pistols, Shotguns, you name it a type of gun of that kind was there. From there the guns were divided into different sub-classifications: Assault Rifles, Hunting Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Pistols, Revolvers, etc. The ammunition was stacked neatly along the wall to Joshua's left, each in a box carefully stacked on racks that reached the ceiling. There was a desk to his right that had gun parts on it, _'likely for repairing or stripe cleaning' _Joshua mused, and there were several people inside already. Of the four people inside the room two of them were Seras and the butler from earlier, and the other two, each clad in large, but thin looking, coats looked to be grabbing something from the pistols. As he took in the room the two, both men, grabbed a pistol and rifle each, and one of them grabbing a shotgun before saying something to the butler that he missed as he was taking in the room. The butler passed them a few magazines and they nodded, heading for the door. As they passed they nodded toward Seras, but ultimately seemed to ignore Joshua, though the one that wasn't carrying the shotgun tipped his fedora slightly as his passed.

Deciding he'd spent enough time lingering in the doorway he fully entered the room, he stopped when he got next to Seras, just when the man handed her the pistol she'd used when Joshua had been turned. "Thank you Walter," She stated, the gun disappearing into shadows mere seconds after she said those words. "I believe you know why we are here, aside from you checking over my gun"

"Of course," the butler stated, turning toward Joshua and bowing slightly, "My name is Walter C. Dornez, Head Butler to the Hellsing family and former Vampire Hunter. Now if I'm not mistaken, and I rarely am with these sorts of things, you require a gun"

"It would be appreciated" Joshua admitted, glancing around again and resolving to question the man about his time as a Vampire Hunter, "So any of these will work?" he asked, only to blink in confusion as Walter laughed, well more chuckled really but the concept was the same.

"Of course not," the old man stated once he'd finished suppressing his amusement, "Most of these are for hunting things other than vampires, or for the use of the ground's guards," he explained walking over to the far left rack on the back wall and grabbing an Assault Rifle. "Here we are: a specially modified SA80, the L85A2 Rifle, completely top of the line, 518 millimeter barrel length, 785 millimeter total length, with a stainless steel magazine capable of holding 30 rounds, and selective fire. Total weight 4.83 kilograms, fully loaded. Not even the military has any of these" (2) He said, handing the rifle to Joshua, who was glad to see that it had a shoulder strap so he didn't have to hold it everywhere he went.

"This can't weigh almost five kilograms; I don't feel any weight at all," Joshua muttered, going over the gun, removing the clip, checking the safety, and all around familiarizing himself with it. "Also where's the scope?"

"You won't be needing it," Walter assured him, producing ten magazines from the bottom of the rack, "These are specially crafted and blessed silver bullets, mercury tipped and designed to put down even the toughest vampire, so try not to shoot yourself; I don't know whether or not it would kill you"

"Thanks," Joshua replied thankfully, though he wanted to know why a simple bullet might kill him. And he was; most of the Metropolitan Police thought he was a flight risk and he had to fight tooth and nail just to get his P226, let alone being given a military grade Assault Rifle! Speaking of which, "Do I get a sidearm?"

Walter and Seras shared a glance, something that confused Joshua slightly, before Seras answered "We're working on that, at the moment" she admitted, "You should be given one once our current job is complete" Joshua shrugged in acceptance, hopefully he wouldn't need a sidearm, but he felt significantly safer with one anyway.

"I believe that you should be leaving soon, if I'm not mistaken" Walter said, "It wouldn't do to make Sir Integra wait, especially with where you're going" His statement caused Joshua to blink in confusion, as Seras nodded and strode out of the room.

"What does he mean by that?" Joshua asked, turning to Seras as she passed the doorway. At her silence he slung the L85A2 over his shoulder and took off after her. "Come on, tell me what he means! Mistress!" he called, his words fading as he got out of Walter's earshot.

"I have a feeling that one will be a handful" the butler muttered to himself, shaking his head and chuckling lightly at a joke that likely made its way through his head. He then turned to the desk, pulled out the chair and sat down, before opening a drawer and pulling out black gun parts and beginning to put together a pistol, "Let us see if I've still got it after all these years"

(Insert line break here)

"So you're telling me... that the _Catholic Church_ has a secret organization designed to kill everyone and everything that they deem unholy? And that its under the direct control of the _Pope_?" Joshua asked warily of his Mistress, not even noticing that the more time he spent around the woman the easier it was to think of her as such.

"Indeed; Section XIII, the Iscariot Organization is the Church's personal army, originally founded for the First Crusade they have existed for well over a thousand years" the vampiress sitting across from him in the helicopter said as she sat in a very lady-like manner which, for some reason he couldn't fathom, confused Joshua. As it was, he was merely sitting like an average joe familiarizing himself with his gun as best he could before having to put it to use. "They are arrogant in their power, and make no mistake they _do_ have power, as an organization greater than Hellsing's if only by sheer experience as hunters of the supernatural. Individually... most of them would fall if they attacked us, but we would inevitably be destroyed; we prefer quality over quantity with our men, they use the opposite having a large group of adequately trained people lead by a small group of highly trained, and highly specialized, Regenerators"

"Highly trained, highly specialized whats?" Joshua asked after a few moments of mulling the term over in his mind.

"Regenerators, human abominations that, though the use of science, have the ability to regenerate almost any part of their body, regardless if there may be a bullet in the way, so long as they have the energy. That's why they are so highly trained, so that they may regenerate as much as possible" Seras explained, looking out the window in the helicopter's door at the Irish landscape below.

"How hard are they to kill?" Joshua asked, not liking the prospect of fighting one... actually that's a lie. He _was_ liking the prospect of fighting one, very much so in fact, it was the _consequences_ of fighting one he wasn't looking forward to.

Seras was silent for a few moments, the amount of time it took for the helicopter to land at the drop zone. "If we meet one on this mission just leave them to me" was all she said as she opened the door and stepped out, her hair blowing in the wind. When Joshua didn't move for a few seconds she turned, just as the moonlight of the waning gibbous moon broke through the clouds, giving Seras an ethereal quality. "Are you coming?" she asked, brushing a bit of hair out of her face.

"Y-yeah" Joshua replied after a few moments, suddenly struck by Seras' beauty. He shook his head and blinked a few times to readjust his thought process. Admiring his Mistress could wait; he was about to enter a live fire situation and, despite his significant upgrades to his speed and strength, he didn't know if he was going to come back alive.

"You will, I promise" Seras said suddenly and quietly, her voice almost a whisper in the wind that Joshua heard, but wasn't sure actually was spoken. His head shot up when the sound waves reached his ears but Seras was already striding away, pulling at the bottoms of her gloves to fit them farther on her hands. He shook his head once more, almost sure he had imagined it, and took off at a jog to catch up to the vampiress.

There was one part of his mind, however, that was absolutely _certain_ that he had heard her say that, and it would only grow louder as the days progressed and his power as a Nosferatu grew.

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The hospital in question was quiet as a grave, for that is what it became on this day of prayer. Sunday, June 19th 1994 was the day that Rick O'Leary's life was turned into hell on earth. It started as a simple day, he got to work at the hospital, checked in, saw some patients, nothing serious in the grand scheme of things. Usual stuff. That is... until nightfall. Around midday they'd brought in a patient who'd been attacked by some kind of animal, it appeared; he was mauled, blood his blood was everywhere, and he was barely clinging to life. For five hours straight they worked to stabilize him, only for him to expire once they were sure he would live. They couldn't find a reason for his death, he just... died. As if from a virus or some kind of bacteria in whatever mauled him. They left him alone for maybe an hour while they waited for the mortician, and in that time they noticed that his body seemed to bloat. They attributed it to an accelerated decomposition of his body tissue due to the temperature in the room they'd left him in, so they simply turned the heat down, turned off the lights, locked the door, and left him alone. When the mortician arrived and they opened the door the first thing they noticed was the fact that the cadaver was _not_ laying where they had left it, and it was behaving rather _un_-cadaver like. As it behaving... and moving.

As they stood in the doorway in shock _It_ turned to them and the last thing the mortician, for he was closest to it as he'd walked forward once Rick had opened the door, saw was the glint of animalistically sharp teeth and bright red eyes before the _Thing_ this man had become lunged, digging his teeth into the man's neck in an eerily similar manor to how they'd found the man when he had still been a man and ripping his neck apart. At the very least his death was swift; the monster put his lips to the man's wound and sucked the remaining into his mouth before swallowing, Rick realizing in horror just exactly _what_ this thing was.

In his haste to escape he failed to close the door and ran into the main lobby screaming at the top of his lungs for everyone to get out. Only a few listened, and those who didn't looked as if he'd lost his mind. The beast gave a guttural roar that sent chills down Rick's spine and, for a reason even he doesn't quite understand, he took off deeper into the hospital and into the office of the security guards on duty. He slammed the door shut, panting heavily and getting confused looks from guards who had decided to either stay late or to come early as he sank down to the floor and squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could. Before any of them could do anything or say anything some of the guards on duty ran into the room, guns out and loaded and told the others to do the same. Their questions died in their throats when they heard the screams, and their blood chilled when they stopped.

Several doctors and patients where brought into the room before it was deemed to dangerous to leave the room. For a few hours no one left the room, until the thing outside, they refused to call it what it was because that would be resigning themselves to their fate, destroyed the door and weathered a storm of bullets from the security guards. Call him a coward, that's what he does, and what they did, but Rick ran, the screams of his colleagues, friends, and patients as they died, and the laughter of the beast as they got back up. He ended up holing himself in a room on the second floor and that's where he stayed. First he heard the sound of boots thudding across the floor, and he thought it was the monster or its minions so he held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut, not opening them or breathing until all sounds faded. He stayed there for what felt like an eternity... until he heard the gunshots. At first he thought that maybe another guard managed to hide; when they'd gone out to find others some hadn't come back and they were assumed to be dead. Then he noticed they started getting closer, and that the explosions of sound didn't seem frantic, they sounded more like a controlled burst; blam, blam, blam. Blam, blam, blam, blam, blam. There was a single exception in this in that at one point it sounded like fully automatic fire, as if the owner of the gun was attempting to put space in between themselves and something. And just before he thought they'd stopped for the last time, they suddenly erupted just outside the door his back was against. And finally when they stopped and his hearing returned and the sound of bodies hitting the ground he heard voices.

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When they arrived at the hospital the first thing that Joshua noticed was the smell of death. It wasn't something that he was unused to by any means, but it was slightly unsettling. "How long has it been here for?" He asked, flicking the safety off his gun and setting it to semi-automatic fire.

"Approximately eight hours. The chances of anyone still being alive are slim to none..." Seras replied, her eyes narrowing slightly when she couldn't sense the vampire's location. That meant that it was either extremely powerful, or it wasn't here anymore and neither possibility boded well; if it was powerful enough that _she_ couldn't feel it, then it would eat Joshua for dinner and she would be forced to release some of her Restriction Seals to combat it. And if it wasn't here... then they would either have to chase it, or they would be fighting a Paladin of Iscariot. With those thoughts in mind she strode forward, intent on determining which theory was correct.

Joshua followed behind, rifle propped to his shoulder. "Its... quiet. Shouldn't this place be crawling with... Ghouls, did you call them?" he asked, quickly glancing down at the bloodstains that littered the lobby.

"Yes I did, and yes it should... something is not right here" the sound of shuffling came from the hallway adjacent to them on the right and from the darkness a singular Ghoul shuffled forward, acting more like a mindless zombie from a bad movie than a vampiric minion. As soon as it appeared Seras materialized her gun from the shadows, and Joshua spun and aimed. A scant second later two gunshots rang out, so close to each other that they seemed to be one in the same, one striking the Ghoul in the head and the other in its heart. Seras glanced at Joshua out of the corner of her eye, slightly surprised that he would reach as fast as he had and still manage to hit his target in the heart so soon after awakening fro his Sleep.

"When you don't have a lot of friends in the Metropolitan Police, you spend more time dealing with guns than with people, especially considering what my job title was" Joshua stated, feeling more than seeing or hearing Seras' question. The vampiress nodded in acceptance as Joshua brought the rifle off his shoulder and for a few moments they were completely silent, waiting for the tell tale shuffling and staggering of Ghouls to show that there still were some within the building besides the one that they just killed. When no sound came after a few moments they lowered their guns in confusion. "Things aren't supposed to be this easy... are they?"

"No; normally by now I am besieged by a large group of Ghouls in an attempt to kill me so I can't remove the master from existence" Seras said, glancing around and at the ground. "When Ghouls die nothing happens to their bodies; they stay as they are. That said... if we haven't found any Ghouls other than that one, then where are their bodies?"

"Maybe no Ghouls were made?" Joshua suggested. Seras was about to retort about his stupidity, before remembering she'd yet to explain how a Ghouls, hell how _vampire__s_ were made. A fact that she was quick to rectify.

"I doubt it; it that were the case then everyone who died would have become a vampire," at his confused look Seras continued, but not before heading into one of the hallways, Joshua at her tail. "A Ghoul is someone who has been bitten by a vampire, but was not turned into one due to them being deflowered, or of the same sex as the vampire themselves. Since that Ghoul look to be male, I would have to say that either he was deflowered, or the vampire is a male"

"Wait... so I'm only alive, because I've never had sex?" the fledgling asked incredulously. Seras didn't turn to face him, mostly so he wouldn't see her amused smirk, and merely nodded. "Wonderful. Who knew my lack of appeal with the fairer sex would save my life" he muttered dryly as they passed several empty rooms, their doors wide open.

"Well this is creepy..." Joshua commented after a few minutes of walking through the abandoned hallway nothing but the sounds of their footsteps and the noises that his mind was making up to keep him on edge. "Never thought that I'd say that after becoming a vampire" he said after a few seconds as his statement registered in his mind.

"You planned on becoming a vampire?" Seras asked playfully, glancing at the fledgling out of the corner of her eye. Just before he responded her ears twitched slightly, almost feline like in that it was due to a sound being picked up by them.

"Well no... but you have to admit that becoming a vampire would make you think that being creeped out by something seem impossible" Joshua relented, also noticing a noise, but in the opposite direction.

"One would assume" Seras replied just as they reached a crossroads of sorts in the hallway, the stairs leading to the second floor just in front of them and another hall running perpendicular to the one they were currently in. As one they both whirled around, Seras in front of Joshua, and Joshua behind Seras, their guns up as they aimed, back to back out of coincidence. Just as they brought their guns up a large group of Ghouls appeared at the end of the hall on each side, visible to both only due to their improved vision in the darkness thanks to their condition.

It took them both less than a second to find their first targets, Seras slightly before Joshua due to the man's gun being larger and her own superior speed. Once found they both pulled the trigger, a single silver, mercury tipped bullet escaping the muzzle of both guns at roughly the same time. Two Ghouls, one on each side of the hallway watched with dead eyes as a bullet fly through the air at them, each bullet not even halfway there before another target was found and another bullet fired.

Within seconds all the Ghouls were dead, the only sound remaining once their bodies hit the ground was that of spent bullet casings and a stainless steel magazine following them. Another magazine inserted into his gun, the slide cocked back to rechamber the new round, all the while the gun held with the slide's lever in front of his face and the muzzle facing the ceiling, Joshua grinned, his eyes bleeding red into his normally blue irises. "Who's next?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly demented and incredibly eager at the same time.

As if summoned by his question a few Ghouls more or less stumbled down the stairs, immediately setting Joshua's sights on them. Another few gunshots later and they were down, all but one dead with a shot to the head. The only remaining one was alive only because it moved minutely and the bullet missed its heart. The fledgling growled stalking up to the body and placing his foot on its head, mercilessly crushing it and splattering blood everywhere. His ears perked when he heard footsteps on the floor above him, undoubtedly more Ghouls either sent by the vampire or attracted by the sound of gunfire, and he calmly scaled the stairs to the next floor.

Seras watched with a raised brow and an odd fascination; his demeanor suggested he was in a blood rage, but he wasn't acting like it. She followed after him, an obscene amount of gunfire coming from above her, causing her to shake her head in amusement. Her amusement, however, fled in the wake of astonishment when she got to the hall Joshua was currently in; it appeared that he'd lost himself to his blood rage and, after unloading an entire clip into the corpse of the Ghoul he was standing above, was covered in blood, panting heavily with his tongue lolling from his mouth as he blood soaked hand came closer to it. His hair appeared to be wilder than usual, and his eyes had a faraway look in them. In retrospect she shouldn't have been all that surprised as he hadn't been conscious as a vampire for more than a few hours, but seeing her fledgling about to ruin what was generally considered a vampire's right of passage to become an 'adult' shocked her.

"Joshua Morris!" she more or less barked, her words causing him to freeze in both his panting and bringing his hand toward his mouth, "A vampire's first hunt is something that is considered sacred; it is the first time they drink blood and the point where they truly become a vampire. I won't have my right to have that time with you because you lost yourself in a blood rage!" It made sense that she wanted to choose when to have her fledgling go on his first hunt, where he hunted down and drained his first human and realized his 'full' power as a vampire. Its known as 'full' power because most vampires don't know, or try to suppress, the fact that by drinking the blood of your Master or Mistress you gain even more power. In fact, you gain all of _their_ power on top of your own. As such many vampires with multiple fledglings, and even those that have one or none, try to keep that information out of the public's eye within the vampiric kingdom.

"... What?" he asked intelligently, blinking a few times as his eyes faded back to blue. "The hell is a blood rage?"

"A mental state where a vampire, typically a fledgling, looses their senses in the wake of the sight, smell, touch, and occasionally taste, of blood. It is referred to as a rage because it is all but impossible to break you of it and return you to your senses unless it is done by your Master... or Mistress in this case"

"So I went feral? Because of the blood of a dead person?" Joshua asked, standing and grabbing his gun glancing around at what he'd done thus far; all the Ghouls were dead, that was for sure, and several were missing their heads. One apparently had a hole in his chest as if someone had shoved their fist through their heart, and another didn't _have_ a chest anymore likely due to being the target of thirty silver, mercury tipped bullets at point blank range. "Remind me to not become the target of a feral vampire..." he commented as he continued to stare at the bodies.

"Even as you are now I don't think you'd fall before a vampire in a blood rage... a Paladin however, I'm not that sure about" Seras commented striding past Joshua, but pausing for a second next to him. "You know... I think you look quite dashing covered in blood" with that she continued walking, enjoying the confused and embarrassed feelings coming off her fledgling.

Unable to do much other than sputter in confusion and embarrassment, and shove the part of his mind from earlier that was currently roaring in triumph at getting a compliment from Seras back to the darkest pit of his mind where, in his current opinion, it belonged, he soon jogged after her, catching up just as she began firing on another group of Ghouls.

This continued for a while; they would find Ghouls, and they would kill said Ghouls almost bored. That is, until they reached another long hall with the doors open wide. The moment they stepped into it a large group of Ghouls began pouring out of the rooms, nothing really new here. What _was_ new was the fact that they all were holding guns, much like the minions of the priest two nights before, causing Joshua to glance around for cover and discover that Seras was currently standing behind him. "Mistress wha-" he began, only to be cut off by the No Life Queen.

"This is your first lesson as a vampire," she stated as the Ghouls raised their weapons, and time seemed to slow with the exception of Seras, her voice, and Joshua himself. "You, like I and my Master before me, are beings of Shadow and Darkness: we live within the darkness and it gives us strength, and we are only shadows given life and form. Our bodies are shadows, invulnerable to all but blessed weapons and greater monsters than ourselves" her words filled Joshua with a sense of arrogance, for a reason he couldn't fathom, "But not as you are; you have yet to sleep in the darkness, and the shadows do not embrace you as one of their own. You must called upon their power to protect you, for right now you are as killable as a human. Concentrate. You have time to embrace the shadows so they might do the same for you, but not much. The bullets will kill you as you are, so with your second death approaching what will you do? Die as you did before? Weak, powerless? Or will you rise up and rear your head, screaming your power to the world?! If you do I promise you, all vampires will know you in much the same way they know me: Royalty, the epitome of our race and beings to fear the anger of!" she exclaimed, her very words boiling his blood as he delved deep within his soul and grasped the darkest part he could reach.

Just as this occurred time returned to normal and the bullets impacted Joshua's body, causing it to partially rag-doll as they continued to strike him, forcing his body back step by step. Once the Ghouls had exhausted their ammo they stared at the still standing body of Joshua, his neck allowing his head to hang loosely facing the ground, hair obscuring his face. And then his eyes opened. A brilliant crimson that, had Seras been able to see, would have stolen the breath from her lungs. These eyes were eyes that hadn't graced the planet for almost one hundred and twenty years. The eyes of the legendary Count, the Ultimate Vampire, the No Life King, Count Dracula. Joshua's mind was temporarily shut down as an onslaught of memories assaulted him, and his body moved on autopilot, unloading a single shot into each Ghoul until he was out of ammo, and then simply dropping the gun and striding forward.

When he reached the first Ghoul he gripped its head and crushed it remorselessly, throwing the body at the next Ghoul. He shoved his hand through the heart of one, and ripped the head off another. For the next few minutes he disposed of each Ghoul in a similar manner until there was only a single one left. Surprisingly fast it managed to bite down on Joshua's shoulder, only for the man to sneer and rip it off of him, its teeth full of shadows that merely returned to Joshua's shoulder good as new. He then simply rammed his hand through its skull, shattering the bone and obliterating the brain matter. After this his mind finished sifting through the memories and filed them away from Joshua's own, allowing his mind to return.

"Shall we continue?" Joshua asked, turning back to his Mistress, his eyes having turned back to their normal coloring. At her nod he walked back to pick up his rifle and they continued. The last group they found was a hallway to their right, and when they began firing they stood next to the first closed door they'd found since the first floor. "Where is this vampire at anyway? We've been sifting through these Ghouls for almost an hour!" Joshua asked, turning to Seras and placing the top of his gun on his shoulder, muzzle facing behind him.

"It hasn't been that long, I assure you" she replied just as the door next to them burst open and they leveled their guns at its entrance, only to pause when they saw a living, breathing human. And given their sense of smell they could easily tell he was a human.

"W-who are you?" the man asked, nervously putting his hand into the pocket of his lab coat, undoubtedly where a gun was currently resting. "How did you know to come here?!"

"Vampire hunters," Joshua replied, having glanced at Seras and felt her poke his mind to inform him to play their cards close to his chest, "Its our job to be here and know where these things pop up so we can put them down"

"You're here to kill it?" the man asked almost immediately, sounding frantic. He took his hands out of his pockets and grabbed Joshua by the front of his shirt, causing the fledgling to glare and forcing him to refrain from growling. "Its killed everyone else here! Please... you have to..." he looked down in sadness, choking down tears, "When it started killing us I ran to security. When it started killing them I ran here... I'm a doctor, I should have stayed, if only to buy my patients more time! I... I'm tired of running! I want to kill that thing, and afterwords... I don't want those things to continue existing! If you need any help with killing them please let me! I might not be able to fight, but I can at least patch you up if you get hurt!" he pleaded, conviction breaking through his sadness and rearing its head in his sharp, green eyes.

Joshua glanced at Seras, silently asking for help dealing with the man, something he didn't miss. "We need to talk to our boss about that, but first what is your name?" she asked, not wanting to reveal their condition just yet.

"Rick. Rick O'Leary, M.D. And you?" Rick asked, glad that they hadn't immediately shot him down, though he could admit that he had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"Seras, Seras Victoria. This is my... associate Joshua Morris" Seras replied, pausing for half a second as she came up with a word to call Joshua without revealing their identity as vampires. "Do you know where it went?"

"Yes, it should be upstairs. I'll show you th-" Rick began only to be cut off by the sound of boots thudding down stairs, causing him to jump, having remembered them from before. What came down the stairs, however, wasn't what anyone save Seras expected.

A man, larger than many Joshua had ever seen, with short blonde hair, clad in a gray trench coat, beneath which was a typical priest's garb, and brown boots. He wore simple circular glasses that seemed to glint in the moonlight. On his left cheek there was a worn scar, the wound that likely caused it probably having been almost fatal. He wore two white gloves, not unlike the ones Seras herself wore, both with crosses on the back. On the left were the words 'Speak with the Dead' and on the right 'Jesus Christ is in Heaven'. In each hand, of all things, were two bloody bayonet like knives, the blood so fresh that it was still dripping onto the floor. To complete the image he wore a silver crucifix around his neck that, like his glasses, glinted in the moonlight.

"Its been a while Father. I trust Iscariot has been treating you well?" Seras asked, waving her hand for Joshua to leave. He paused in confusion, wondering how his Mistress knew the man.

"Do mine eyes deceive? Seras Victoria! I didn't think I would get another chance to kill you after you gave me this and fled all those years ago" the man responded, almost jovially, revealing an Irish accent before bringing his hand to the scar on his neck.

"Why are you here Father, this is Hellsing's territory. The Vatican has no grounds to break our treaty and be here" Seras demanded, glaring at Joshua out of the corner of her eye. Why hadn't he left yet?!

"Hellsing controls England, yes, but Ireland is our property. _You_ are the one breaking the treaty" the Father shot back, before seemingly noticing Joshua for the first time. "Its not like you to bring others on hunts, missy... Oh, I see! You've finally found a pet to replace your bastard of a Master!" he stated sounding like he had an epiphany.

"Father Alexander Anderson! How _dare_ you insult him!" Seras all but roared. It wasn't hard to figure out that she was referring to her former Master, though Rick was left confused as to why the person they were talking about was being called Seras' 'Master'. "Joshua, take Mr. O'Leary and get out of here. I will deal with this man"

"Yes Mistress... but if you don't mind me asking: Who is he?" Joshua asked, earning another confused look from Rick. _'Mistress? What are they from the tenth century?!'_

"Father Alexander Anderson," Seras replied, repeating Anderson's name, "Paladin Anderson, God's Assassin, The Bayonet Priest, Angel's Dust Anderson, Killing Judge Anderson, Executioner Anderson, Saint Guillotine. He is the Iscariot organization's finest Paladin, their ace in the hole. To have him here spells death for you and Mr. O'Leary. Now GO!" she yelled, causing Joshua to quickly salute and grab Rick's arm.

"We need to leave. I've never seen her this frantic before, but it can't be good" Joshua said, pulling Rick into a run and leaving out the fact that he's only known her for a few hours.

"Why does he want to kill us?! And what about the... thing!?" Rick asked ripping his arm out of Joshua's admittedly loose grip and running under his own power.

"I don't know, but since he's a Paladin, I'd say that the vampire is already dead, may have been for a while... but that doesn't explain why the Ghouls still 'lived'..." Joshua said, muttering to himself at the end, and slowing slightly, allowing Rick to pull ahead and lead him to the stairs.

They reach them in less than a minute, having heard the constant sound of gunfire for about half a minute. They bolted down them, two steps at a time and ran to the hall that Joshua and Seras first entered when they got to the hospital. "What the?" Rick asked, slowing to a stop at the fact that there were papers nailed around the entrance to the hall. He shrugged passing under them with out difficulty.

Joshua, however, attracted the doctor's attention when he let out a scream of pain. Rick turned to see the man writhing in pain beneath the doorway as if electrocuted. He ran back to see what the problem was just as Joshua was thrown at the stairs, landing hard on his back and smoking.

"Scripture?" Rick asked, passing under the doorway with no problems and reading the writing on the paper. And he was right: every single piece of paper was scripture, specifically things that you would expect spoken or read at an exorcism, and all of it condemning the unholy and demonic. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together, and Rick immediately pulled his pistol on Joshua's downed form, glad that his assault rifle was currently out of reach. "What are you?" he demanded as Joshua sat up, looking annoyed and frazzled but no worse for the wear.

Joshua didn't answer and simply reached for his assault rifle, only to stop when Rick shot the space next to his hand, moving the aim back to Joshua's hand when he turned to look at the doctor. "Answer the question dammit. What. Are you?!"

Joshua sighed, bringing his arm back to its normal place next to his body and standing, Rick's gun perpetually aimed at his head. "Do you really want to know?" at Rick's nod Joshua sighed once more before grinning widely, revealing his sharpened teeth. At Rick's horrified look Joshua spoke once more. "I am a vampire, the fledgling to the No Life Queen, queen of the vampires, and a being that hunts his own kind"

Post AN: First things first guys, I bring you this live at the Witching Hour (at least for me) and I'd like to wish all you blood-sucking, brain eating, curse throwing _beasts_ out there a

**Happy Halloween!**

Second I probably could have finished this chapter three days and about seven thousand words ago, but I didn't because I wanted to get out a Halloween chapter, not a pre-Halloween chapter. Make sense? Good. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the cliffhanger at the end. I wonder how most will react to that... guess I'll find out huh?

Now some of you likely noticed the numbers in parentheses, hopefully all of you did because that means you read far enough to not only see them but to read _this_. Those are Numbered Points of Interest, that I'll use to signify something that I'm going to be putting down here to explain, so I suggest that you remember where they are for when you get down here to have them explained. So without further ado:

The Number Points of Interest!

1. This is actually Seras' outfit from Hellsing Order, the original TV Series for Hellsing for those who don't know, with the exception that instead of a skirt and stockings he had dark blue pants and regular socks.

2. I probably spent more time trying to find out what kind of gun the rifle Seras uses before she gets the Harkkonnen than I did actually typing this chapter. Needless to say I found it, and I just gave you its name, weight (mind you the weight I found was with the scope so I estimated), and the such. For those who skipped it it is a L85A2 Assault Rifle, weighing in at 4.98 (fully loaded with scope) kilograms (about forty or so pounds for those who are to lazy to look up the kilo to lb conversion), with a stainless steel magazine capable of loading thirty rounds, with selective fire (can change between semi-auto and fully automatic fire with the flick of a switch. Also I would like to point out that the L85A2 variant of the SA80s (Small Arms 80), the gun I am describing, wasn't manufactured until the year 2000, hence why Walter said 'not even the military has any of these' because to be frank... _no one_ has them. The modifications to the SA80s to turn them into L85A2s wouldn't be made for six years after the time this story takes place.


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